Dec 13 (Reuters) - A convoy of Syrian military forces and U.S. forces from the American-led coalition fighting Islamic State came under fire on Saturday while on patrol in the central Syrian town of Palmyra, two local Syrian officials told Reuters.
The officials said there were casualties. There was no immediate comment from the Pentagon.
(Reporting by Syria Bureau, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
ISTANBUL, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, fresh from a meeting with Russia's Vladimir Putin, said he hopes to discuss a Ukraine-Russia peace plan with U.S. President Donald Trump, adding that "peace is not far away".
Erdogan met Putin in Turkmenistan on Friday, and they evaluated "comprehensive peace efforts" to end the war, a statement from Erdogan's office said on Friday, with Turkey reiterating its readiness to support peace efforts.
By Ahmed Elumami
Dec 12 (Reuters) - Libya's national museum, formerly known as As-Saraya Al-Hamra or the Red Castle, has reopened in Tripoli, allowing the public access to some of the country's finest historical treasures for the first time since the revolt that toppled Muammar Gaddafi.
The museum, Libya's largest, wasclosed in 2011 during a NATO-backed uprising against longtime ruler Gaddafi, who appeared on the castle's ramparts to deliver a fiery speech.
Dec 13 (Reuters) - International human rights groups on Saturday condemned the reported re-arrest of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi in Iran, with the Nobel committee calling on the Iranian authorities to immediately clarify her whereabouts.
Mohammadi's French lawyer Chirine Ardakani said on X that the human rights activist was arrested on Friday after denouncing the suspicious death of lawyer Khosrow Alikordi at his memorial ceremony in the northeastern city of Mashhad.
By Yuliia Dysa and Max Hunder
KYIV, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Russia attacked two Ukrainian ports on Friday, damaging three Turkish-owned vessels including a ship carrying food supplies, Ukrainian officials and one ship owner said, days after Moscow threatened to cut "Ukraine off from the sea".
Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed retaliation against Kyiv's maritime drone attacks on Moscow's "shadow fleet" tankers thought to be used to export oil, which Kyiv says is Russia's main source of funding for its almost four-year-old war.
Dec 12 (Reuters) - A joint Saudi-Emirati military delegation arrived in Aden to discuss measures aimed at defusing tensions in southern Yemen days after the country’s main southern separatist group claimed broad control across the south, a government source told Reuters on Friday.
The Southern Transitional Council said the takeover included the eastern provinces of Hadhramaut and Mahra, and that the separatist group is present in all eastern provinces of south Yemen, including Aden, the base of the Saudi-backed, internationally recognised government.
By Erin Banco and Jonathan Landay
WASHINGTON, Dec 12 (Reuters) - U.S. intelligence officials temporarily suspended sharing some key information with Israel during the Biden administration over concerns about its conduct of the war in Gaza, according to six people familiar with the matter.
In the second half of 2024, the U.S. cut off a live video feed from a U.S. drone over Gaza, which was being used by the Israeli government in its hunt for hostages and Hamas militants. The suspension lasted for at least a few days, said five of the sources.
TUNIS, Dec 12 (Reuters) - A Tunisian court on Friday sentenced prominent opposition figure Abir Moussi to 12 years in prison, her lawyer told Reuters, in what rights groups say is a new step towards entrenching President Kais Saied's one-man rule and using the judiciary to crush his critics.
"The ruling is unjust and is not a judicial decision but a politically motivated order," Moussi's lawyer Nafaa Laribi told Reuters.
OSLO, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Iranian human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi was arrested in a "brutal" manner in Iran and must be released immediately,the Norwegian Nobel Committee, whichawards the prize, said on Friday.
Mohammadi has previously served multiple sentences on charges including spreading propaganda against the Islamic Republic. Late last year, she was released from Tehran's Evin prison after the suspension of her jail term to undergo medical treatment.
In the Nile Delta village of Nagrig, residents love local son Mohamed Salah from a distance, with ructions between the Egyptian super striker and long-time English club Liverpool doing little to dim his lustre at home.
"Thanks to him I can dream," 16-year-old Mohamed Ahmed told AFP as he stepped onto a pitch at the Nagrig sports complex where Salah first honed his talents before making his improbable journey to some of football's most dizzying heights.
